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A review by booksteastories
Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Maeve escaped the Mother Collective one fateful night on her birthday and has been searching for her cousin ever since. When Andrea, now a rich founder of a successful company called NewLife, reaches out to her and wants to reconnect Maeve is overjoyed -- finally, her family has found her. But Andrea isn't struggling with what happened like Maeve is and adamantly refuses to talk about it -- something that becomes more and more difficult to do as their shared past seems to keep resurfacing.
I would describe this book as "mildly unsettling". You're always second guessing your suspicions and are curious to find out more about what happened. That aspect of it was brilliantly done, however, I feel like it swerves into... almost campy territory at some point. It's like most of the book was this inescapable, high pitched buzzing near your ear and then it suddenly turned into a deafening plane engine roar.
The plot was kind of predictable: you suspect something and then it happens, and almost exactly in the way you expected it to. Which isn't a bad thing -- it can be done done great effect but it lacked impact here. There is plenty of material for this book to be, well, horrifying but it isn't. We never really delve into the events of the book. If we had lingered, if we had really seen Maeve react it would have been guttural. Instead it almost feels like we're expected to be horrified because a bad thing is bad, you know, morally, which yes, we are indignant at that but not horrified because we never see the effect of the events, if that makes sense (sorry for going overboard with the italics).
The characters were developed -- every time someone appeared on the page, you would get curious as to what impact they would have on the story. The sense of intrigue about the past was also well executed.
Overall: brilliant concept, great tension but lackluster pay off.
I would describe this book as "mildly unsettling". You're always second guessing your suspicions and are curious to find out more about what happened. That aspect of it was brilliantly done, however, I feel like it swerves into... almost campy territory at some point. It's like most of the book was this inescapable, high pitched buzzing near your ear and then it suddenly turned into a deafening plane engine roar.
The plot was kind of predictable: you suspect something and then it happens, and almost exactly in the way you expected it to. Which isn't a bad thing -- it can be done done great effect but it lacked impact here. There is plenty of material for this book to be, well, horrifying but it isn't. We never really delve into the events of the book. If we had lingered, if we had really seen Maeve react it would have been guttural. Instead it almost feels like we're expected to be horrified because a bad thing is bad, you know, morally, which yes, we are indignant at that but not horrified because we never see the effect of the events, if that makes sense (sorry for going overboard with the italics).
The characters were developed -- every time someone appeared on the page, you would get curious as to what impact they would have on the story. The sense of intrigue about the past was also well executed.
Overall: brilliant concept, great tension but lackluster pay off.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Torture
Minor: Drug use and Suicide attempt